First Thing: Republicans feud over Trump in first 2024 primary debate
Eight candidates, who gathered in Milwaukee in hope of catching up to former president in polls, also argued about abortion and the climate. Plus, 130 million people under heat alerts in 22 states
Good morning.
Republican presidential candidates clashed over Donald Trump's legal woes during the first primary debate of the 2024 campaign season, underscoring the former president's absence from the event and casting a spotlight on his potential vulnerabilities in a general election rematch against Joe Biden.
How far ahead is Trump in the polls? A CBS News/YouGov survey compiled last week found Trump holds his largest polling lead to date, with the support of 62% of likely Republican primary voters. The survey showed Trump beating his next closest competitor, DeSantis, by 46 points, with every other candidate in single digits.
What did Trump say in his interview with Tucker Carlson? In a rambling interview, speckled with discussion of conspiracy theories from whether the billionaire sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was murdered in his jail cell to the role of federal agencies limiting the amount of water in washing machines, Trump took aim at critics on all sides in his traditional derisory fashion. He also warned of a threat of conflict in the US after saying he expected Democrats to steal the 2024 election from him and he was concerned the left" would try to kill him.
What has the Kremlin said? It has not yet commented. Rosaviatsia, the Russian aviation authority, said Prigozhin and Utkin were among 10 people onboard. Putin made no mention of the incident during a speech in Moscow to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Battle of Kursk during the second world war. He instead hailed all our soldiers who are fighting bravely and resolutely" in Ukraine.
Continue reading...